BT and Wipro Technologies, the Global IT Services Division of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT), have signed a licensing and advanced development deal to jointly develop an advanced mobile/remote workforce management system.
This deal involves joint development of BT’s ‘mPower’ product and the non-exclusive licensing of BT’s ‘mPower’ intellectual property rights to Wipro. ‘mPower’, developed by BT’s Research and Venturing business, enables organisations to mobilise their enterprise applications, whilst enabling their remote workers to communicate, collaborate and co-ordinate effectively to achieve their individual and collective goals.
Wipro will carry out development work over the next twelve months to productise ‘mPower’ for BT. In addition, Wipro will develop its own ‘mPower’ related offerings that it can provide to its customers as well as license to other companies providing workforce management solutions.
BT started developing ‘mPower’ in 2002, incorporating five patents to make it more advanced and user friendly than many rival products. ‘mPower’ uses complex Artificial Intelligence technology to enhance productivity by reducing inactive time and providing real time information; increase efficiency by delivering work instructions and highly relevant supporting information regardless of location; stimulate team building through work, time and knowledge sharing; and give greater predictability by increasing the visibility of ‘who, what, where and when’.
Mike Carr, director of Research and Venturing at BT, said: “Prompt, informed decision-making by mobile workers is essential to the success of any operation with an out-of-office workforce. Organisations in many sectors including gas, water or electricity field engineering, account teams, healthcare professionals and logistics providers, rely on mobile workforces to deliver their services. Our mPower solution supports advanced peer to peer services that allow mobile workers to co-operate and collaborate highly effectively to better serve the customer.”
Dr A.L Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Wipro Ltd, said: “Wipro is one of the world’s largest providers of integrated telecom services with over two decades of expertise in delivering solutions across the entire telecom value chain. Our expertise combined with BT’s intellectual property and their leading edge ‘mPower’ platform will further enhance the portfolio for the next generation of mobile enterprise applications.”
